Shortening container device



Nov. 10, 1970 R. N. WOOD SHORTBNING CONTAINER DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 9, 1969 Fig.

INVENTOR Roam N. W000 BY 13AM; mumfmh m m flfforne 5 Nov. 10,1970 R. N. WOOD 3,539,360

SHORTENING CONTAINER DEVICE Filed May 9, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOP Rosier N. W000 United States Patent Oihce 3,539,360 Patented Nov. 10, 1970 U.S. Cl. 99-171 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A container particularly well adapted to receive bulk quantities of shortening and the like having a plastic bag in the form of a tube having a single sealed seam closing its lower end. The tube is received inside a carton of corrugated fibreboard and a portion of the perimeter of the bag is secured by adhesive means to the upper margin of a carton sidewall to assure that it will remain in position during filling and that the bag will remain closed when the carton is set up or erected prior to filling of the bag. After filling, the bag is detached from the carton sidewall so that the end user can dump the bag and product from the carton as a single unit.

RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending patent application Ser. No. 633,995, filed Apr. 26, 1967, now Pat. No. 3,443,971.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to the packaging of commodities and more particularly relates to a container particularly well adapted to the packaging of meltable products such as shortening and the like.

Packaging bulk quantities of shortening leads to a number of problems. For example, present sanitary sealing methods for shortening exhibit the difficulty in removing all of the shortening from the container. The problem of waste is particularly serious in commercial usage where large vats of shortening are used in preparing large quantities of food. The accumulated amount of waste in processing fifty pound bulk cubes, for example, can be considerable.

In manufacturing plants where the containers are utilized, the boxes are erected and placed on a conveyor of considerable length for their movement to filling stations. Since the conveyors are of considerable length, some time normally elapses during their movement and prior to filling. If the conveyor is stopped during a lunch break, or shift change or overnight, and the bags are left standing in open condition, the bags can become contaminated, a particularly damaging condition where certain food products are being packaged. Automatic spreading open of the bag when the container is set up or erected is undesirable.

Therefore, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a shortening container which eliminates the problem of waste yet provides a sanitary packaging means.

SUMMARY A plastic bag in the form of a tube having a single sealed seam closing its lower end is received inside a generally rectangular carton of corrugated fibreboard. A portion of the perimeter of the bag is secured to the upper margin of a sidewall of the carton to assure that it will remain closed during carton assembly and will remain in position during filling the bag with a flowable product such as melted shortening.

Where shortening is the product being packaged the shortening is allowed to solidify in the bag. The plastic bag is then closed and the bag is substantially free within the carton. This permits the end user to dump the bag and its contents from the carton as a single unit into the vat where the shortening is to be melted. After the shortening has completely melted, the bag is removed from the vat.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The full nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims.

FIG. 1 is a view of the fibreboard blank with the plastic bag mounted thereto, the blank being shown as it appears before the ends thereof are joined.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the erected fibreboard blank of FIG. 1 with the plastic bag empty and closed.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the blank of FIG. 2 with the bag open prior to filling.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a filled assembly with the plastic bag closed.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a completed assembly.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the bag and contents being dumped from the assembly as a single unit.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view of the upper portion of a blank with a plastic bag mounted thereon, as in FIG. 1, but forming a modified form of a container-bag assembly.

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of the upper portion of a container formed from the blank of FIG. 7 and including a closure cap.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings in detail, FIG. 1 shows a carton blank 11 typically made of double-faced corrugated fibreboard having score lines 12, 13 and 14 dividing the blank into four panels .16 through 19. Panels 16 through 19 have score lines 20 through 23 defining upper flaps 24 through 27 and score lines 28 through 31 defining bottom flaps 32 through 35. The sidewalls of the opened container are formed by flaps 24 through 27 and by panels 16 through 19, as will be evident from FIG. 3.

A bag 36 of fluidtight flexible plastic material, such as polyethylene, overlies panel 18 and half of panels 17 and 19. The bag is actually formed of a tube of polyethylene sheeting and is shown lying fiat with the lower edges of the tube sealed in a single seam 37 whereby the bottom of the bag or tube is closed, and is preferably aligned with the bottom edge of the bottom flaps. The material of the bag which lies immediately in contact with upper flap 26 and is secured thereto by adhesive means taking the form of spaced areas of strippable adhesive indicated at 39.

When panels 16 and 19 are folded on score lines 12 and 14 respectively and their ends placed together (with tab 42 providing the conventional manufacturers joint closure), and lower flaps 32 through 35 are folded on score lines 28 through 31, respectively, and sealed by conventional exteriorly applied tape, the carton has the appearance shown in FIG. 3 when ready for filling. The upper edge 41 of the plastic bag remains closed until the container is to be filled thereby insuring a contamination free bag as shown in FIG. 2.

The upper edge of the bag is then opened and folded over the upper flaps of the carton as shown in FIG. 3. Shortening in a liquid state is fed into the open container and allowed to solidify. The bag is then pulled free from the adhesive areas 39 and the upper end is closed by folding, as shown in FIG. 4, tying or the like. The Ibag cannot, in this form of the structure, be closed until it is released from the container. The container flaps, in turn, must be free of the bag, in this form of the structure, in order to be folded for box closure.

The upper flaps 24 through 27 are then folded on score lines 20 through 23, respectively, to close the carton. When the carton reaches its destination, the carton is opened and inverted as shown in FIG. 6 and the bag and its contents are dumped from the carton as a single unit and into a heating vessel in which the shortening is melted. The bag is fished out of the vessel once the shortening has completely melted thereby minimizing waste of shortening adhering to the emptied bag.

Placement of the bag is extremely important to insure proper opening of the bag when the container is assembled. The bag must be placed on the blank so that it extends from the center of panel 17 to the center of panel 19. If this is not done, the bag will not open as intended and the bag will be out of position. The bottom seal 37 should be parallel with the bottom of the blank to insure a fiat bottom on the bag when it is filled without pulling the bag away from the walls of the container.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, there is shown a modified form of the assembly which differs from that previously described in that the container does not have its upper end closed by slotted flaps but by a conventional top cap 59 (FIG. 8). In this structure the container blank 50 (FIG. 7) may be made of double-faced corrugated fibreboard divided by score lines into panels 51 through 56 which panels, in this variation of the inventive concept, form the sidewalls of the opened container, since no top closure flaps are present. A bag 54 of flexible material, such as polyethylene, overlies panel 53 and portions of panels 52 and 56. The portion of the bag which lies immediately in contact with the side panel '53 is secured thereto adjacent the upper margin of the side panel or wall 53, by adhesive means taking the form of spaced areas of strippable adhesive indicated at 58, these adhesive areas being comparable to adhesive areas 39 of FIG. 1.

The carton is set up for filling as previously described with reference to FIG. 3, the upper, open end portion 55 of the bag 54 being draped over the side panels for filling. Prior to filling, but after the container is erected, the bag remains closed and uncontaminated, the unattached marginal folds of the bag generally assuming the position illustrated in FIG. 2.

After filling, the upper end of the bag is closed by folding or tying, as indicated in FIG. 8, and the cap 59 is fastened to the container. When the carton reaches its destination, it is opened, by removal of cap 59, and inverted and the bag and its contents are dumped from the carton. Both the structure of FIGS. 1-6 and that of FIGS. 7 and 8 provide the contamination minimizing feature (the bag remains closed upon erection of the container) and further, permits the bag and contents to be dumped as a unit from the container.

I claim:

1. A container comprising: a flexible bag formed of a tube of flexible material having a single sealed seam closing its lower end and adapted to be filled with a flowable material; a fibreboard carbon surrounding said bag, said carton having flaps extending from its side panels; strippable adhesive means on the interior surface of a single one of said flaps; said adhesive means securing said bag to said single carton flap during container assembly and filling and permitting said bag to remain closed until it is opened for filling thereby assuring an uncontaminated container, the bag being adapted to be freed from said single carton flap after filling and closure, thereby permitting the liner and its contents to be dumped from the carton as a single unit.

2. A container in accord with claim 1 wherein said fiowable material is shortening, said shortening being introduced into said bag in a fiowable state, said bag being detached from said carton and closed after said shortening solidifies; whereby said bag and shortening may be dumped from said carton into a heated vessel as a single unit with said bag being retrieved from said vessel after said shortening has melted.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,099,257 11/1937 Bergstein. 2,593,778 4/1952 McGinnis. 3,459,357 8/1969 Egger et al.

DAVID M. BOCKENEK, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 229l4, 37 

